Mother and Teen Daughter driving around town daily distributing food and supplies to street people and their pets.

Dec 29, 2010

Dog Gone Magical

November and December are busy months for Rich Delights and my daughter and I did not get to volunteer as much as we like to. We celebrate Chanukah in our home and the holiday was very early this year. Chanukah lasts for 8 nights and our tradition has changed over the past couple of years. Money we have that might have been used for exchanging gifts now goes to charities we feel passionate about. The donations we make may not be enough to evoke any major worldly changes but we still feel good knowing that we made a choice to give. Each night we pick a different cause.Whether we celebrate Christmas or Chanukah or any other holiday during these winter months there is always an opportunity to reflect on our blessings and give what we can.

One of my most cherished donations this year will be given on behalf of Rich Delights and KIDSAGAINST ANIMAL CRUELTY. A percentage of sales ranging from 10% to 20% has been collected recently and will be going to a security guard at one of the studio lots. Lou Wegner, founder of KAAC, was so touched by the love and courage of this man whose dog took a bullet for him and saved his life. Later it was learned that the dog was very ill and it is expensive to sustain his regimen. After the holidays I will give a money order to Lou which he can present as a small token of letting someone else know that people care. Rich Delights Paying It Forward with KIDS AGAINST ANIMAL CRUELTY. If each of us found someone or something to partner with just think of all the good we could create!

Speaking of good, I want to end this with a success story of hope and determination. In September at an Animal Advocates Alliance adoption at Pan Pacific Park we drove to Los Angeles with the expected temperatures to go well into the 100's. I had my daughter and two of her friends with me.Turned out to be 105 degrees and the volunteers and the dogs shared a long hot day together. Nobody complained about the heat itself so much. The complaints were about the fact that the high temperatures were keeping people inside their nice air conditioned homes and not at the park where we were. This meant few adoptions and at the end of the day a very sweet Pit Bull we named Penelope and three other Pits went back on the animal control truck to the shelter. My daughter fell in love with Penelope and we both cried when we had to lift her on to the truck. The good news was the promise that she was given a few extra days of life.

I guess you could say I became obsessed with networking this dog. A child's love for something makes a parent work that much harder to see it materialize. In the long run I was not the person who found the rescue for this dog nor was I the person who fostered the dog. Those honors go to Sondra Arrache and Stephanie Draven. However, I have since gotten to know these amazing ladies and they have inspired me to push myself even more especially for the Pit Bull which is a breed most discriminated against these days.Penelope took a long trip from Los Angeles to Oregon and after a few weeks Sondra found this dog now called Ona a wonderful family.

Yesterday Ona and her "brother" Tommy a Jack Russel Terrier were in Chula Vista visiting their California family. My daughter pretty much begged me to travel the 100 miles to see Ona now in her new life. When we arrived I actually got a little choked up as her Mom Karama had her on a leash to greet us as we got out of the car....People wonder why we do what we do for these discarded animals. If I had any doubts at all they all disappeared when Ona jumped up on us and gave us huge doggie kisses....She was not in Oregon but she was HOME! It felt Magical!

May all who read this and even those who don't be blessed in the upcoming year 2011 with giving of themselves in a way that will have a positive impact on all living things. I believe that each day we are fortunate enough to wake up is equivalent to celebrating a New Year. We don't have to wait for the calendar to tell us it is time for a change. I look forward to a sweet successful year with Rich Delights and donating a percentage of sales to KIDS AGAINSTANIMAL CRUELTY. While I continue working to make a difference I will still be...... baking4you!